Debby, I'd like to go and confront the guy who closed his garage door - I really would. Only Pete's more level headed self has managed to talk me out of it. As far as the owner of the loose dogs, I am very, very angry at them now. They did come back over early yesterday and look at the fence and gate again and made promises to replace the gate as well as the picket beside the gate and to replace the picket stash that we had to use to replace the other three that their dogs tore off. But here it is now late Sunday afternoon, but they have not come with the gate, or the pickets...they were supposed to return with them by yesterday afternoon. And they probably won't go get their dogs from the pound and they probably will get some other dog that they will not treat properly and that dog will likely have a similar fate as these two. They do have a history - last big dogs they had before these were 2 Rotties and those got taken by the pound in '08 for running at large. And you remember that little Spot dog that kept getting out and trying to get into my yard? He belonged to them, too. He was finally hit by a car on Guthrie about 10 months ago.

Angie,

Since the only entrance to the yard, (other than through the house, which was locked at the front door so no one would have been able to even get in that way to help me), is the one that the dogs were trying to get into - this is sort of moot, but -

Before it got really ugly in the back yard, I think anyone - stranger, friend, neighbor, police - whatever - would have been able to get my dogs to go with them into the house with the exception of Otis.

Otis does not like anyone that he does not know really well. Otis is an excellent example of poor breeding. He is just now starting to trust Debby and Amanda, and they have known him since he was a small puppy. Otis could, without a doubt, hurt someone badly given the opportunity. We watch Otis like a hawk around people that he does not know extremely well, and he is crated if we have company.

Domino, his sister, on the other hand - would have, at any point - even after she was amped up like something gone insane - allowed anyone to handle her without incident. She is the most human submissive dog that I have ever met and she loooooooooves everyone. I honestly believe that she could have been picked up and carried off without issue by anyone, so long as they could have held onto her madly squirming self. The biggest danger might have been getting scratched by her feet.

Gracie, while leery of people that she does not know well, is extremely well trained, (except for putting her paws on people that she really loves), and if I told her to go with someone else - I believe that she would have done it immediately and without issue.

Doja? that might be a bit more dicey. She is very protective of me and my things - like my car. She goes nuts if she is in the car and someone touches the door handle of it. Whether she'd actually do anything to them if they opened that door, I do not know. She loves people, (even complete strangers), and wants to climb into their laps for cuddles if she's not guarding her "territory".

Rascal and Bud would have gone with anyone - they just wanted to get away from the melee. You could have been Jack The Ripper and they would have gone with you.

What could someone have done to help? Based on how the dogs disengaged as soon as the cop starting shooting at them, I think if someone had just distracted them - thrown a rock at them, or a piece of wood, ANYTHING long enough to break their focus, then once Domino was gone and not engaging back with them, it would have ended. At no point did they ever try to aggress on the cop, or the AC guy. They never even NOTICED them until they were being shot at, and then they broke off the fence attack and tried to run away. *I* was in their way of getting to Domino so that made me a target of their aggression until Domino was out of their sight line. Once she was gone, it was over and they just stopped. Seriously, it was like turning off the lights with a switch. BAM. Normal, frightened dogs who wanted nothing more than to hide because they knew that they were in big trouble now.

So, what would I do if I were going to try to help someone in a similar situation? First, I'd have me a big whopping stick - baseball bat, shovel - something just in case I needed it to whack some dog - and I'd find something to throw at them from a distance to try to distract them first. If that distraction did not work, then a massive beating might. A well placed head blow with a baseball bat, would, I think, break off the attack, too.

I know that a five gallon splash of water full on in their faces did nothing - nothing - but piss them off even more.

~Tiger

Doja; TT, CGC, CD, CDX, UDGracie; TT, CGC, CD, CDX, UD, UDXOtis; CD, CDX Domino; CD, CDXCome visit http://NTBBC.com - "Changing One Mind At A Time"You are given but one life to live, use it wisely....

I just keep getting horrified every time I read this thread. I cannot imagine the fear you were feeling, and just cannot say "kudos" to you enough for keeping a clear head and doing what needed to be done.

"Remember - every time your dog gets somewhere on a tight leash *a fairy dies and it's all your fault.* Think of the fairies." http://www.positivepetzine.com"

I don't think I could have kept my head on straight through that. Sounds like you did what you needed to in order to protect your crew. That sucks that your neighbors ignored your calls for help . Glad things turned out for your dogs and hopefully the other dogs end up in a better home and those people dont go get more dogs. Irresponsible owners cause so many issues for good dog owners because one incident can be enough for laws and regulations to change and it puts people and other animals in danger. I'm glad you are all ok.

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn't look good either.
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"You didn't know of the magical powers of the break stick? It's up there with genies and Harry Potter as far as magic levels go." SisMorphine 01/07/07

I talked to the owners again today and they told me that they did not go get the dogs. Sadly, that means that they are now dead

And I'd say that 7 pages of lost dogs is not really a huge number when you consider that Garland is a pretty big city - something like the 10th most populous in Texas. Pushing 300,000 in population, I would guess.

~Tiger

Doja; TT, CGC, CD, CDX, UDGracie; TT, CGC, CD, CDX, UD, UDXOtis; CD, CDX Domino; CD, CDXCome visit http://NTBBC.com - "Changing One Mind At A Time"You are given but one life to live, use it wisely....

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn't look good either.
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"You didn't know of the magical powers of the break stick? It's up there with genies and Harry Potter as far as magic levels go." SisMorphine 01/07/07